Retirement to Marriage extension

[Ubonquest]

My Retirement extension will end coming March. I got married to a Thai and contemplating applying for a Marriage visa. I am considering getting a multiple entry at Savannakhet but don't want to apply right away. Can I apply for the Marriage visa any time after my Retirement expires? Or do I have to go through the O-A visa first?

[ubonjoe]

You would be on a overstay after your current extension expires.

You could apply for a 60 day extension to visit your wife instead of applying for the one year extension of stay.

You could also change the reason for your extension of stay based upon retirement to marriage. No need to leave the country if you do that.

[steve187]

if you change the extension reason for staying say from retirement to marriage, then the new extension will start on the day you apply, and not the first day after your present extension expires,

is your extension based on a non imm 'O' or a 'O''A'

[Ubonquest]

Sorry for not making myself clear. Just right at the end of my retirement extension, I will leave Thailand to do some traveling then will later go to Savannakhet or Vietnam to apply for the multi-entry marriage visa. That was my main question for the time gap between the two.

If I chose to apply for a 60 days extension to visit my wife, should I apply a couple of days before the end of my retirement extension expires? Thanks UBJ.

[Ubonquest]

2 hours ago, steve187 said:

if you change the extension reason for staying say from retirement to marriage, then the new extension will start on the day you apply, and not the first day after your present extension expires,

is your extension based on a non imm 'O' or a 'O''A'

The past two years I was on Retirement extension. Does Immigration give a hard time for changing retirement extension to marriage one? Do we have to give a reason for the change? Thanks.

[Peter Denis]

23 minutes ago, Ubonquest said:

The past two years I was on Retirement extension. Does Immigration give a hard time for changing retirement extension to marriage one? Do we have to give a reason for the change? Thanks.

You would have to wait till your present permission to stay based on the Non Imm O - retirement Visa  is due for extension.  But this time not apply for an extension for reason of retirement, but applying for reason of MARRIAGE.

As the new extension will start from the day of application (and not added to your present permission to stay date), it is recommended not to apply too early as you would lose the remaining days from your present permission to stay.  But you shouldn't wait till last day either in case there are some incomplete or missing documents in your marriage-extension application.  Applying 4-5 days before expiry should be sufficient to tackle any document problems you might encounter.

You do not need to give a reason for the change (although in your case it is pretty obvious that when married, you prefer the benefit of the reduced financials of a marriage-extension), but of course you need to meet the requirements.

See attached link > https://www.immigration.go.th/content/service_79

and please note that the requirements do not address the monthly-funds-transfer method (40.000 THB minimum per month, with foreign origins proven), and that you would not need to prove 12 months of transfers as it is a NEW application.

[steve187]

44 minutes ago, Ubonquest said:

Sorry for not making myself clear. Just right at the end of my retirement extension, I will leave Thailand to do some traveling then will later go to Savannakhet or Vietnam to apply for the multi-entry marriage visa. That was my main question for the time gap between the two.

If I chose to apply for a 60 days extension to visit my wife, should I apply a couple of days before the end of my retirement extension expires? Thanks UBJ.

if going for the 60 day extension get all your ducks in a line and apply very close to the expiry of the retirement extension

38 minutes ago, Ubonquest said:

The past two years I was on Retirement extension. Does Immigration give a hard time for changing retirement extension to marriage one? Do we have to give a reason for the change? Thanks.

my local office would not change from a 'retirement' extension to a 'married' extension, (edit  but they did after a lot of coaxing, do a 60 day extension) as i was in the UK prior to returning to Thailand i obtained a fresh non imm s/e visa from Hull for being married and used that for the 'married ' yearly extension

Edited February 22, 2020 by steve187

[gamini]

You get a lot of wrong information on this forum. I have just changed from a retirement Visa to a marriage visa. It was very easy and probably only took a few minutes more than getting my normal retirement Visa. But it was actually easier because I only had to have 400 K in the bank for two months instead of 800 K for six months and then 400 K after that.
Just get a list of requirements for a marriage Visa. Get all the documents ready. Take a Thai friend who knows you and your wife along with you in case they need to confirm that you're married. But this is optional.
You don't get your marriage Visa straightaway you have to wait one month. I didn't have to go back to immigration a friend of mine picked it up for me. A very pleasant immigration officer came round to our house took a few pictures and that was that.

I would have had a marriage Visa instead of a retirement Visa a long time ago a long time ago. But I read on this forum that it was very difficult and all sorts of problems.
But really the only problems with immigration are those that do not qualify and try to use someone else to put up the required funds or exaggerate their income.

[Jip99]

5 minutes ago, gamini said:

You get a lot of wrong information on this forum. I have just changed from a retirement Visa to a marriage visa. It was very easy and probably only took a few minutes more than getting my normal retirement Visa. But it was actually easier because I only had to have 400 K in the bank for two months instead of 800 K for six months and then 400 K after that.
Just get a list of requirements for a marriage Visa. Get all the documents ready. Take a Thai friend who knows you and your wife along with you in case they need to confirm that you're married. But this is optional.
You don't get your marriage Visa straightaway you have to wait one month. I didn't have to go back to immigration a friend of mine picked it up for me. A very pleasant immigration officer came round to our house took a few pictures and that was that.

I would have had a marriage Visa instead of a retirement Visa a long time ago a long time ago. But I read on this forum that it was very difficult and all sorts of problems.
But really the only problems with immigration are those that do not qualify and try to use someone else to put up the required funds or exaggerate their income.

 

 

You are right about the wrong information on this forum........................... you don't have a visa, you have an extension... ????

[steve187]

gamini. it would be helpful to post which office you used

[jacko45k]

13 hours ago, gamini said:

You get a lot of wrong information on this forum. I have just changed from a retirement Visa to a marriage visa. It was very easy and probably only took a few minutes more than getting my normal retirement Visa. But it was actually easier because I only had to have 400 K in the bank for two months instead of 800 K for six months and then 400 K after that.

Yes you do. This post being one of them. 

You changed from a retirement Extension to one based on being married to a Thai. It is not  Visa.

A retirement Extension does not require 800k for 6 months. At the moment, 2 months pre seasoning of 800k would be required. 

In the future, a retirement extension renewal will likely require, effectively, that 800k/400k/800k for 3/7/2 months beforehand is proven.

A marriage extension requires a one month wait for approval, where you will likely have to keep the 400k for a further month, meaning 3 months. A home visit by immigration, a requirement to produce Thai people to speak for you and allow pictures in the bedroom, I regard as demeaning. 

 

Getting married may be a step too far for many and the concern of being behoven to your wife for the right to remain in Thailand. My partner would rather eat dirt than attend immigration with me!

[Peter Denis]

13 hours ago, gamini said:

You get a lot of wrong information on this forum. I have just changed from a retirement Visa to a marriage visa. It was very easy and probably only took a few minutes more than getting my normal retirement Visa. But it was actually easier because I only had to have 400 K in the bank for two months instead of 800 K for six months and then 400 K after that.
Just get a list of requirements for a marriage Visa. Get all the documents ready. Take a Thai friend who knows you and your wife along with you in case they need to confirm that you're married. But this is optional.
You don't get your marriage Visa straightaway you have to wait one month. I didn't have to go back to immigration a friend of mine picked it up for me. A very pleasant immigration officer came round to our house took a few pictures and that was that.

I would have had a marriage Visa instead of a retirement Visa a long time ago a long time ago. But I read on this forum that it was very difficult and all sorts of problems.
But really the only problems with immigration are those that do not qualify and try to use someone else to put up the required funds or exaggerate their income.

The jist of your post is that you experienced it to be far less difficult than advocated on the Forum to switch from an extension for reason of retirement to one for reason of marriage.

I think that is a comforting (and correct) message for those contemplating a similar move.  Therefore thanks to pointing that out.

But of course it would be helpful to also let us know your IO, as there are big differences in attitude of IOs as well as in how they enforce the requirements.

Note: Besides the lower financial requirements to be proven, doing such a switch is especially of interest for original OA Visa holders as they are now when applying for their yearly extension confronted with the @#$%^ thai IO-approved health-insurance scam, which is not required when applying for reason of marriage.

 

[Ubonquest]

Thank you everyone for the help. I really appreciate that.

[ivor bigun]

after many years on retirement ,,i changed in january ,to be honest it was easy , also i had to get a kor ror 22 as we were married in the UK. even that was not that hard(i went on holiday and did it then) as for having a picture in the bedroom ,big deal our son took one of us standing smiling next to our bed,  everyone in immigration was pleasant as were the guys who came to the house ,never even left the front room .

 

[Suradit69]

16 hours ago, gamini said:

 

You get a lot of wrong information on this forum. I have just changed from a retirement Visa to a marriage visa. It was very easy and probably only took a few minutes more than getting my normal retirement Visa

 

"You get a lot of wrong information on this forum."

 

Such as posters referring to "extensions of stay" as "visas."

[Max69xl]

On 2/22/2020 at 3:45 PM, Ubonquest said:

The past two years I was on Retirement extension. Does Immigration give a hard time for changing retirement extension to marriage one? Do we have to give a reason for the change? Thanks.

You're reason is your marriage. 

[gamini]

On 2/24/2020 at 4:38 AM, Suradit69 said:

"You get a lot of wrong information on this forum."

 

Such as posters referring to "extensions of stay" as "visas."

everyone knows that the use of the phrases marriage visas and retirement visa actually mean extensions, so what  is the point of your post?

[Peter Denis]

27 minutes ago, gamini said:

everyone knows that the use of the phrases marriage visas and retirement visa actually mean extensions, so what  is the point of your post?

Disagree completely with you on that statement. 

It are very different things, and using them interchangeably gets everybody confused, especially in those cases where you cannot determine from the context what the poster is actually referring to.

A Visa is your 'entry-ticket', which will provide you with a permission to stay.  When that permission to stay almost expires, you can apply for an extension of stay based on that Visa. 

[oldcpu]

9 minutes ago, Peter Denis said:

A Visa is your 'entry-ticket', which will provide you with a permission to stay.  When that permission to stay almost expires, you can apply for an extension of stay based on that Visa. 

Indeed, I find this observation on the terminology very important and salient, when trying to understand some of the details of the Visa, the different Extension justifications, and the permission to stay process (together with re-entries and other immigration aspects).

[Suradit69]

On 3/1/2020 at 2:39 PM, gamini said:

everyone knows that the use of the phrases marriage visas and retirement visa actually mean extensions, so what  is the point of your post?

The only people who know that are those who are as confused as you regarding the important differences..

 

A couple of examples:

 

If someone says he has a marriage visa but is getting divorced, what does he need to do about his visa?

 

If someone says he has a retirement visa, does he need a re-entry permit if he wants to t ravel outside Thailand for one week and then return to Thailand?

 

Since "everyone knows" what they mean by marriage visa or retirement visa, why would there be widely different answers depending on what they actually mean?"

 

 

Edited March 2, 2020 by Suradit69